3 Cyber Security Trends to Watch in 2017

Cyber security is central to business in the 21st century and continues to be the focus of IT professionals in 2017. According to Panda Labs, approximately 200,000 new malware was created every day in 2016. In fact, Fortune.com reported that the average consolidated cost of a security breach is $4 million. To avoid major losses and security breaches, companies that rely heavily on data need to stay on top of recent developments in cyber security. Here are some of the cyber security trends to expect in 2017.

The IoT Poses Security Challenges

Recent developments in IoT technology appear to have taken the whole world by storm. However, in the euphoria that has ensued, most people are forgetting that security must remain their number one objective.

There is no doubt that more data means access to more information and better service delivery. However, the IoT also opens up many weak points in networks that can easily be exploited by hackers.

Cybercrime is expected to target devices and endpoints in IoT networks making security more difficult to monitor. In fact, Gartner predicts that in 2017, the IT industry will spend $434 million dollars on securing IoT networks alone.

With the IoT being the new thing in IT, companies are likely to experience an upsurge in the number of attacks in the near future.

Anyone can be a Hacker

The age when hacking was the preserve of computer geniuses with exceptional programming expertise is long dead. There is now a plethora of tools that have been developed specifically for hacking and can be easily accessed online.

With these tools, anyone with bad intentions can easily initiate a cyber-attack. No special IT skills are required anymore. This implies that businesses will continue to witness unprecedented attacks on their systems and networks in 2017.

As a matter of fact, 2016 saw a 300 percent increase in ransomware attacks with over 4,000 attacks reported daily. This trend is expected to continue into 2017 due to the increased accessibility of hacking tools.

It is imperative that online masters in software development and other IT related courses pay more emphasis on cyber security issues to provide solutions for emerging threats. It is likely that an increasing number of IT experts with an online MSSD degree will be called to solve some of these security challenges.

Fake News and Unreliable Sites

More and more people are becoming hooked on social media as their main source of information. In the US alone, over 62 percent of Americans depend on social media as their main source for news. While social media can be an effective way to rapidly reach an audience, it is also susceptible to fake news, since the information disseminated cannot be substantiated.

2017 will see an increase in inaccurate news on social media and companies will need to pay considerably more attention to damage control.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity will continue to be a major issue with the rise of IoT networks and an increasing number of interconnected devices. These devices will eventually provide more soft spots for cyber-attacks. The easy accessibility to hacking tools further exacerbates the issue, which could lead to an upsurge of attacks on computer systems and networks. 2017 will also witness an increase in the number of fake news especially on social.